Railway draft rigging



p 1932- H. .1. LOUNSBURY RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Original FiLed Nov. 5, 1928 Invenr AkrugJZawbag y J 7 J44. 4151:

Fatentecl Sept. 13, 1932 UNITED sraras PATENT 0pm,;

HARVEY J'. LOUNSBURY, 0F GLEN ELLYN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNQR TO W. MINER, ING, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Original application filed November 5, 1928, Serial No. 317,148, and in Canada September 13,1929. Divided and this application-filed January 14, 1931. Serial No. 508,679.

This invention relates to improvements in railway draft riggings. t

This application is a division of applicants co-pending application, Serial No. 317,148 for railway draft riggings filed November 5, 1928.

The main object of the invention is to provide a draft rigging including a coupler, a yoke connected thereto, and cooperating shock absorbing means within the yoke, and

a casting secured to the draft sills through which the coupler shank and the yoke extend, the casting acting as a front stop mem ber, wherein the yoke is so designed as to support the coupler shank in proper alinement with the shock absorbingmeans and the sides of the yoke at the point of connection with the coupler shank are reinforced to strengthen the same and especially the key receiving opening thereof, and the side walls of the stop casting which receive the coupler key are formed so as to accommodate the reinforced sections of the yoke upon lateral swinging movement of the same.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a longitudinal, ver- 1 tical, sectional view through a portion of the underframe structure of the car illustrating my improvements in connection therewith.

Figure 2 is a horizontal, longitudinal, sectional view, broken away, corresponding substantially to the line 22 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a transverse, vertical, sectional View corresponding substantially to the line 33 of Figure 1. And Figure 4 is a detailed,-

perspective view of a portion of the combined striking casting and front stop member employed in my improvements.

In said drawing, 1010 indicate channel shaped center or draft sills of a railway car underframe structure. The end sill structure of the car comprises members 13'-13 and 14, which are suitably connected to the draft sills. ignated by 15, the shank and a portion of the head thereof being shown.

In carrying out. my invention, I provide a combined striking casting and front stop member A, and a vertical yoke member B enclosing a shock absorbing mechanism, gen- The coupler of the car is des erally indicated byC, and a cooperating front main follower D. A pressure-transmittingthrough the main follower [and is interposed 7 between the inner end of the coupler shank and the shock absorbing mechanism.

The shock absorbing mechanism shown is of the friction type, including a friction casing 41,.a wedge member 44 and the usual friction shoeshaving sliding frictional con-' tact with the interior of the casing 41. e The shoes are resisted in their movement by the usual spring contained within the casing 41 and the parts are held assembled by a retainer bolt 52 extending through the wedgeand having the outer end thereof anchored to the pressure-transmitting member E. The pressure-transmitting member E is provided, with lateral flanges 4949 at the outer end thereof, which limit the inward movement of the same. Further detailed description-of the friction shock absorbing mechanism, pressure-transmitting member and front followor is not required in this application, as this subject matter is described fully and in detail in my copending application, Serial No.

offset at the forward end, as indicated at 19,

and is provided with a rearwardly extending elongated central opening 20 which accommodates theupper section of the yoke B. At the forward end, the side walls of the casting A are provided with relatively thick lateral flanges 21-21 which are formed integral with a transverse wall section 22 at the upper.

side of the casting forming a continuation. of

the top wall thereof. The side flanges 21,'to-.

gether with the wall section 22,.form the striking plate member proper of the casting A. The transverse wall 22is also. provided with a rearwardly extendinghorizontal top:

end sill member14. ,The side walls 18ofthe 7 wall section 23 whichengages over the angle casting A are preferably secured to the webs of the side sills 10 by rivets, as most clearly .shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The side walls 18 of the casting are provided with longitudinal openings 2 1- 24 adapted to accommodate the usual coupler key. As most clearly illustrated in Figures 3 and 4,-the key receiving openings 2 1 are reinforced; by spaced, horizontally disposed, top and bot-. tom wall sections 2525 and end wall sections 2626. The wall sections. 25; are connected to the rnainbody portion of the corresponding side wall- 18' by outwardly offsetportions 5656 which provide walls which converge laterally outwardly .of the castmm. key guide slot proper and, asshown in Figuresv 3. and 4, arespaced'apart the proper distance vertically to accommodate and guide the. key, The offset wall sections 56 provide con cave seats or recesses which accommodate certain reinforcements of the yoke, as herein after more clearly pointed out.

The inner ends of the walls 18'are thickened, as indicated at 2727, to provide-the front stop lugs proper of the railway draft rigging. The laterally enlarged sections 27 are suitably reinforced by horizontally disposed top and bottom ribs 28 formed integral with the inner faces of" the side walls. Additional reinforcing ribs 29-29 are also pro vided at the top and bottom sides of the key receiving openings. As clearly shown inFigures 1 and 2, the webs of the center sills 10 are cut away so as to accommodate the offset wall sections 56 ofthe side walls 18. of the casting A and permit assembly of the casting between the draft sills by inserting the same'lo ngitudinally between the sills from the end of the car.

The yoke B comprises top and'bottom arm members 3030 and a vertical rear end; sec-. tion, not shown, formed integral with the top and bottom arms. At thev front end" of the yoke, thetop and bottom arms are connected by vertical side walls 31-31, thereby forming a box-like end structure adapted, to

r accommodate the coupler shank- As most clearly shown in Figure 1, the top arm 30' offthe yokeisdownwardly offset at the forward end, as-indicated at 32', and has a verticaljfl'ange section 33' at the outer end thereof,

which is adapted to abut the inner end of the coupler head. The bottom arm 30 of' the yoke hasan upwardly offset section 3.4 at the extreme forwardend thereof,-which direct- 1y supports the bottom side of the coupler shank adjacent the head ofthe coupler; Thev section 34 is, preferably provided with a downwardly extending flange portion 35 at the extreme forward' end thereof, which'is in substantial vertical alinement with the flange 33 of the top arm. At-theinner ends,

the; side walls 31 aresubstantial'ly parallel,

a 's shownin Figure 2, while the' front end The outer wall sections 25 define the ings 37-37, which are reinforced at the for- The side wall members 31 arepro-o vided with alined coupler keyreceiving open ward; ends by enlargements 38-38 and top 7 and bottom rib members 3939, which are cut-awayiat their inner ends, as shown. 'As' will be evident uponreference to Figure 3, the enlarged portions 38 which reinforce the key receiving'openings 37 of the yoke willbe accommodated within the offsetfor-reces'sed' portionsof the side walls of thestop casting A when theyoke is swung laterally to either side of its centered position'to accommodate-- itself to the lateral; swinging movementiof the coupler when the-cars areib'eing-o-perated on curved track. 'By this'arrangement, thev coupler key receiving openings of" the yoke are properly reinforced without in any wayinterfering with the lateral swingingmo-ve' ment of the coupler andyoke member. The

coupler shank is connected to the yoke; 13 by the usual transverse key- 40 which extends e '95 through ali-ned openings inthe couple-r shank, the openings 37 of the yoke, and has the outer ends thereof working in the guide slots- 24 of the casting- A. The key 40' isof the usual headed type and has any wellknown:

form of retaining means at the freeend thereof;

In the operation of my improved railway draft rigging, assuming that the coupleci's being pulled" forwardly or outwardly in draft, the. yoke B will be carried forwardly therewith through the medium of the con-.

necting key 40, thereby pulling the casing of the friction shock absorbing mechanism G forwardly'whil'e the wedge block 44: is held stationary by engagement with the main fol"- lower D, whi'chis held against outward move ment by the stop members 27 of the-casting A. Movement of the parts is limited by en gagement' of the front. end of the casingof the shock absorbing mechanism with the main follower D.

Upon a buffing action'be'ing applieds to the coupler, the same .willflbe carried inwardly, thereby forcing the pressure transmitting member E inwardly also and carrying the we'dge block 44 therewith, the casing of the friction shock absorbing mechanism being held, stationary at thistime by. the rear stop members.

mi't'ting member E is longitudinally mov-. able with respectto the follower D,. there' will" be arelative'movement ofthe pressure transmitti'ng element with respect to the follower Inasmuch as. the pressure tran's the abutment face at the front side of the follower. In addition, there will-be a movement of the pressure transmitting member equal to the clearance between the main follower and the front end of the casing of the friction shock absorbing mechanism. In other words, during the buffing action of the mechanism, the maximum movement of the friction wedge system with respect to the casing is equal to the clearance between the main follower and the front end of the friction casing, plus the clearance between the flanges of the pressure transmitting element and the main follower.

It will be evident that the movement of the parts during a. bufiing stroke will be greater than the movement of the parts during draft by an extent equal to the clearance between the flanges on the pressure transmitting element and the main follower D.

From the precedin description, taken in connection with the rawing, it will be evident that I have provided a yoke construction having the key receiving openings thereof amply reinforced, without restricting the lat eral swinging movement of the yoke, by providing recessed portions in the side members of the stop casting without in any way weakening the structure of the side walls at the key receiving openings thereof.

While I have hereinshown and described what I consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications which come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with spaced draft sills; of a coupler;

a yoke anchored to the coupler by means of a key, the side walls of the yoke being slotted to receive the coupler key, said slots being reinforced by wall portions projecting laterally outwardly from the sides of the yoke; and a front stop casting secured to the sills, the side walls of said casting being slotted toprovide coupler key receiving openings, the walls of said openings being connected to the casting proper by outwardly projecting wall sections forming seats adapted to embrace and accommodate the reinforcing wall portions of the yoke when the latter is swung laterally.

2. A combined front stop and striking casting for railway cars having spaced side walls provided with coupler key receiving slot sections, said slot sections being defined by outwardly projecting wall portions, said wall portions converging outwardly and having their outermost sections cooperating with the coupler key to guide the same.

3. A front stop member for railway draft riggings comprising a plate-like section adapted to be secured to the web of one of the draft sills of a car, said plate-like section being provided with a longitudinal opening defined by outwardly offset to bottom and end wall sections, the top and ottom wall sections converging outwardly and forming at their outer extremities, top andbottom guide lwalls, adapted to cooperate with a coupler rey.

have hereunto subscribed my name this 12th day'of January, 1931.

HARVEY J. LOUNSBURY.

In witness that I claim the foregoing, I l 

